Everytime She Thinks She's Out
by ChasingPavements19
Summary: Yes, I know. The title is corny, but read more to find just how appropriate it is. A drunken encounter and the PG-13 kind between The Governor and Alicia. Set in current time. Canon.


**_Hi, fandom. I'm new. Excited, exhilarated. I write Scandal Fanfiction, too if you're into that sort of thing._**

**_This one-shot is an enlightening conversation that takes place between Peter and Alicia. Even if you're not for that pairing. . . may I suggest you stay, friend? And read and possibly review?_**

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"Everytime She Thinks She's Out. . . "

She held on to the bottle, the good stuff. She felt its coolness run through her fingers and palm. It centered her, made her feel lethargic and slow, but centered. Perhaps, she pondered in the dark, in her drunkenness, _slow_ would do for tonight.

_"_Mom?"

The kitchen lights flickered on, sharp pain shot through Alicia's head. It was Grace. _Dammit._

"Mom, what are you- are you crying?"

She wiped her eyes and threw her hair from her face, slamming her palms on the table for balance. "No, Grace. I'm fine."

"No, you're not. What's wrong," she said with concern.

"I'm a good mom, Grace? I mean, this whole sad episode aside. I'm a good mommy, right?" She took Grace's hand in her own and put it against her flushed cheek.

"Yeah, you're a good mom. Of course you are."

"Because I know. I _know _that stuff around here as been hectic. I know that I hassle you about little things, but I just love you and your brother so much, honey, I'd hate to think you didn't know that." She slurred her words a bit. She should stop talking. _Dammit_, she thought again. This wasn't supposed to be something she'd see. She was supposed to be at a friend's house tonight.

"I love you, too, Mom." Grace said with a nervous smile.

"Thanks, Gracie." she took another full swig of wine and put her head back down on the cool marble countertop, moaning while she did it.

"Do you want me to call Dad?"

"No, honey! I can't have your father see me like this. It's too tragic. I have somebody. That I have to talk to, but your Dad, he's not that guy."

"I'm gonna call him anyway." She insisted.

"Grace- Don't" she said urgently. But as soon as she did, the front door fell open. The telling sound of expensive footwear and heavy steps. She could hear in his slow, confident paces, the weight of a very long day.

"What is going on in here?" Peter asked brightly.

"Oh, nothing. You're daughter and I are just having a little late night girl chat."

"Is that all? Wait, late night? It's only ten." he pointed out. Alicia waved it off.

He greeted his daughter, "Hey, Grace."

"Hi, Daddy." she said quickly before rushing off to her room.

"Hi, Alicia."

"Hi, Daddy." she replied cheekily. Feigned innocence dancing in her voice.

He took off his jacket and yanked the coveted bottle from her hands.

"Have you been drinking?" he asked suggestively.

"No. . ." she lied.

He held up the half empty bottle as evidence.

She sighed, "Yes. . . but, in my defense, your wife has had a very hard day."

"I'm sorry. Tell me about it." He really was sympathetic. Or was he pretending? She honestly could not say, but with the headiness of the alcohol and the sorry state of things, she figured "Why not?" and purged.

"What's there to tell? I waged war, I'm Judas."

"Alicia. . ."

"They trusted me, Peter. They believed in me and I just left. I mean why, why did I do that?"

"I've actually been asking myself the same question. Why did you leave?" He said curiously. He had a feeling why, but some smugness in him, something spiteful and petty, wanted to hear her say it. The "it" she'd been circling for months now.

"New surroundings. I felt like I could do it. I knew that I could do more if given the chance. I had the opportunity, and I took it. I don't know why I felt I had to. And now they hate me."

"And by 'them' you mean Will?" he goaded.

"I was really thinking about Diane, but thank you for that, honey." she sneered.

"You're welcome." he chuckled, all in good fun, see, she was laughing, too. She had to, to keep from screaming.

"But, Will hates me too. He thinks I used him to steal clients. He thinks that I've been plotting to venture out since the beginning. Like I'm some sort of snake."

"I'm sorry."

She shrugged, "Comes with the territory, I guess." She looked up at him through foggy eyes and saw what she wanted to behold. A friend, a shoulder, steady and firm. "Drink with me." She offered.

"No, I can't."

"Come on, just one."

"You sound like Bill Sutherland from the ninth grade." He said, taking a seat on the bar stool.

"Did Bill Sutherland corrupt you?"

"No, I held firm back then. But, who can deny this face?" He teased her, holding her chin between his thumb and forefinger.

"I suppose I am pretty irresistible." She said reflectively, sadly. She poured the drink for him, watched him down it, feeling afflicted with sudden enmity for herself. Enough games. Enough tests. Time to be happy and believe it, time for bliss to come from. . . somewhere inside herself, somewhere, she believed, it had always been. _Cut ties with your past, kid_. And just move on.

As if he was reading her mind, Peter said something to her that surprised her in every way,

"Whatever you do, Alicia. Promise me you'll consider your happiness first. Promise me you'll consider the longevity of it and go from there?"

She nodded thoughtfully. The kitchen fell quite silent, save for the buzz of the refrigerator and city noises from outside. Looking at him, she noticed that he seemed to be putting his mind to something too, but she couldn't say what. She wasn't sure if she'd wanted to know. But, they exchanged a series of knowing glances, non-verbal cues, it turned out, were good for something. So much could be said. . . without saying much at all. She had to remember that.

"We're gonna be alright, Peter. We're gonna settle, really settle into this, and everything that we did, it's going to seem miles away. Honestly, that's what I want."

Right then and there, those words felt like the truth. She couldn't say much more about the future or where they would be years down the road, but she liked the idea every wrong they'd ever done onto one another fading. And some strange happiness coming along instead.

"I'm in if you are." He resolved.

"Yeah, honey." She smiled. "I'm in."

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So, how did you like it? Come on, be honest and review or PM me. Can't wait for the feedback.

ALSO! I plan on doing a companion piece, not for Peter/Alicia but for Alicia/Will, called, get this, "Out." I'm doing this mostly because I'm a masochist and I love to torture myself with questions of which one will she choose? I honestly have no idea, and quite frankly. . . I'm cool with that. Anyway those writers choose to swing it, I'm down. I trust them with my ships.


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